New Horizons
by Mr.ANBUninja
Summary: Set 75 years after the Fourth Great Shinobi War, a young boy fresh from his villages academy must cope with his past while he deals with the many hardships of being a ninja. Rated M for later chapters, Possible Crossover.
1. Chapter 1: After the Academy

**(A/N: **Hey guys, a wild impulse hit me the other night, and I acted on it. This was my first idea for a fanfic but for some reason I never got around to typing it out. There will be a lot of new characters, though there will be some that pop up from the Naruto series later in the story (Don't let the time frame of this one fool you, things will be explained as the story goes on.) Those who have read my other story Neo Leaf, I haven't given up on it, just putting it on the back burner for the moment, working on it little by little. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one.

**Chapter 1: After the Academy**

15 years after the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War, a new village was formed. Comprised of citizens from mostly the Land of Fire, yet welcoming many other citizens from around the world, Raitogakure has grown to be a power in the shinobi world that no other village dare's toy with without fear of bloodshed. Though Raitogakure is a peaceful village, they have waged war with quite a few lesser villages and came out on top, though many other major villages like Iwagakure and Kumogakure greatly disagree with Raitogakure's decisions, one major ally to Raito is Konohagakure. Providing financial support, as well as persuading the Land of Fire Daimyo to provide the land that they could start their village on.

Now, 75 years after the start of the village, the Yondaime Mitsukage rules over the village. He has earned the trust, and respect of everyone in the village. Known as a kind man, yet not someone you want as your enemy. Today, he overlooks this year's newly graduated academy students. All of them have been given a squad and sensei, one such graduate is Asato Yuki. He is this year's 2nd Best, falling just a few points behind his childhood friend Fujii Mai. Both of them were put into the same squad with someone from another classroom as theirs. The red spikey haird Yuki and the long blonde haired Mia were considered inseparable, being at each other's sides for everything.

As the Mitsukage gave his speech, there was only one thing going on in Yuki's mind, getting out of that academy and getting to finally do some missions. He was so lost in his own thoughts that it took Mai placing her hand on his to bring him back to reality.

"Earth to Yuki, the Mitsukage's done, we can go now." said Mai as Yuki lifted his head from where he was laying.

"Oh, sorry Mai, I just got lost in my train of thought" he said was he stretched his arms. Looking around he saw everyone start to file out.

"Come on, let's go. Since we meet our Sensei and other team mate tomorrow, there's a few place's I wanna stop before I go home." said Mai with a sly grin on her face.

Yuki looked back at her with his eyes narrowed. "So I guess that means I'm paying for whatever you buy?"

Mai stood up and dragged him to his feet, "But of course, it is the job of the man to buy anything the girl wants, right?"

Yuki crossed his arms and looked back at her with a concerned look. "Your right, but you're just taking advantage of my family's wealth….again." Yuki stopped and thought back to all the times he went shopping with her and not only had to pay, but carry everything she bought. "…oh well. We have been friends since we were kids, so I guess if it's for you, money isn't a problem."

Mai's face lit up and she latched onto Yuki's arm and began dragging him to the door. "Great, I know just the place to start!"

With Mai literally dragging him, they leave the academy and proceed into the market square. Mai immediately walks into a weapons shop, only after she took the pouch of money Yuki had and left him at the door saying something about 'It's a surprise'.

After a few minutes, she walks back out holding two weapons pouches. _Those look expensive… _thought Yuki just as Mia tossed him one.

"Here, one for you and one for me. I choose special ones," She opens her pouch and pulled out a silver kunai with a red taped handle. "The lady behind the counter told me they will never rust and can withstand more abuse then the regular kunai. I even got us a set of matching shuriken too." She finished with a smile.

"With my money…"

"Yes, with your money." said Mai as she nodded her head.

"And just how much did these cost?" asked Yuki, knowing that the pouch of money he gave her was long gone.

"400k ryu…"

Yuki's mouth immediately dropped to the ground. He hadn't heard of any sort of weapons costing that much, not even a katana crafted by a master swordsman cost that much.

"ARE YOU INSANE?! I didn't even have that much on me, so how did you manage to walk out with them?"

"I told the lady who I was buying half of it for, and she said that you could just bring by what was owed another time."

At a loss for words, Yuki slapped his right hand onto his face and tried not to get mad. _I told her I'd pay….I told her I'd pay…. _"Fine," he finally said, not keeping his sarcasm down at all. "I'll just see if kaa-san can stop by here tomorrow and finish paying them."

With a smile Mai grabbed his hand and started leading him again. "Come on, let's get lunch then."

Lunch didn't even register on Yuki's mind, since Mai had spent every last penny he had he was flat broke until he got home. "Mai, where do you think we are going to eat at? I don't have any more money on me and I'm not gonna start a tab with every store in Raito…"

Mai immediately turned around and glared at him. "You're forgetting that my family owns the most successful ramen shop in the village."

Yuki stopped and looked into her eyes, for some reason, her brown eyes were pulling him in. It wasn't until she snapped a finger in front of his face did he come back to reality.

"Are you okay Yuki? You been spacing out more than usual today." Said Yuki, the concern in her voice starting to take effect, "That's twice you've spaced out today, are you okay?"

Yuki nods his head and tries suppress the blush that's trying to take over. "Yea…perfectly fine Mai."

Mai smiled and took his hand again and led them on.

The two went to the ramen shop that the Fujii family owned and had their lunches. They talked about what was in store for them in their new squad, their past in the academy, and other things. Yuki had managed to persuade her older sister who was working the shop at the time to give them two bowls of ramen for free since it was their graduation day. Now they were walking through the city, the sun was starting to get low in the sky.

"We're supposed to meet our sensei tomorrow at 8 on Practice Ground 4…wonder what they will be like." Said Mai. She had always wanted a laid back sensei that could hold his or her own in combat.

"Hopefully not someone too into his mission that he blindly leads us into deadly situations." Sighed Yuki. He knew all too well about such calls but didn't want to bring up bad memories.

"Either way, you know that since me and you are on the same team that they will probably pair us with a very low ranking Genin. I just hope they aren't a total washout."

The talking stopped for a second as they came into a crowded part of town. Just as they were mid-way through the crowd something caught Yuki's eye. In a split second he had his right arm out and stopped Mai just as a black haired girl ran past them flat out with a few people hot on her trail.

"The hell was tha…" Yuki stops when he feels something soft against his right hand. He looks over to see he had indeed stopped Mai, but had done so by almost literally grabbing her chest. The look on her face meant that she was ready to kill Yuki. With his face blood red and a stream of blood coming from his nose, he releases his hold. "Umm…uhhhh I ummm…..sorry Mai."

With a swift slap to the back of the head, Mai send Yuki to the ground. "Baka Yuki, baka baka baka!"

He jumps back to his feet instantly, "AGGH! I JUST STOPPED YOU FROM GETTING RUN OVER AND THIS IS HOW YOU THANK ME?!"

Mai turns her nose up at that statement. "Likely story, or maybe you just got ballsy and wanted to cop a feel, and that stampede of people just happened to be there at the right time." Then she turns and looks as Yuki as she starts to blush. "Honestly…if you wanted to you could have just asked…"

This sends Yuki falling over backwards with blood coming from both nostrils.

"Just kidding." Said Mai giggling.

"This girl's gonna drive me mad one day…" wheezed Yuki as he just laid on the ground dazed at what Mai had said.

Mai leans down and helps Yuki back to his feet. They continues to walk around the village talking for what seemed like hours, every once in a while Mai would catch Yuki blushing and pick at him about what had just happened, which would cause him to blush more. At the end of the day Yuki was walking Mai home just as the sun was setting. They walked up onto her deck and she stopped in front of her door. She turned around and smiled at him.

"See you tomorrow, remember, don't be late."

Yuki nods. "I know, see you then."

Yuki turns to walk off the deck but feels Mai's hand grab his. She swings him around to her and she plants a kiss on his lips. He stands there stunned as Mai walks into her house blushing almost the same color he is. After a moment of standing there dazed he manages to collect himself enough to step off her porch and head to his house.

Inside Mai house, she had shut the door and was now leaning against it, trying to make sense of what she had just done. "W-What caused me to do that…" she was wondering, though she had no regrets, she didn't think that she would have showed her affection for him this early in life. "Maybe it's just my mind reacting to what he did earlier." She thought back to when he threw his arm up and inadvertently grabbed her. "UGGH! Baka Yuki!" she screamed as she stormed off into the house.

Yuki had left Mai's and headed straight for his. Taking ten minutes to get there, he strolled up to a gate, and walked in. The house was a 3 story brick home, large front yard, and indoor swimming pool in the East Wing, and Dojo in the back. Finally at the front door, he pauses with his hand on the door knob. It's not that he hated this home, or his family, he just hated the memories it held. Taking a deep breath he turns the knob and walks in. Shutting the door behind him he can hear footsteps approaching.

"NII-SAN! Your home Nii-san." Said the silvered haired little girl running towards Yuki. She latches onto him and hugs him, nearly tripping him. It was his 7 year old sister Ayame.

"Ayame, be careful." He hugs her back and then leans down in front of her as soon as she lets him go. "Ayame, is Kaa-san back yet?"

Ayame nods, "She's in her study right now."

Ayame notices the Hitai-ate with an obvious representation of a sun on it that Yuki had tied around loosely around his neck, her eyes became big and she smiled as wide as he had ever seen her. "You're a ninja now nii-san!"

Yuki smiles at Ayame as he puts a hand on her head and rustles her hair. "I sure am Ayame." He stands up and walks to the stairs across the room. "We can talk later Ayame, I need to speak to mother."

Ayame nods and runs off to the room she came from as Yuki proceeds to the stairs. He knew his mother was busy being the head of the house and clan head at the moment, she had also just retired from active duty to the village, but he knew she would always make time for him. Reaching the top of the steps, he turns right down a long hallway and stops at the first door he comes too. He knocks on it and waits.

"Come in" a tired sounding voice called form within.

Yuki opens the door and walks in. The room itself is filled with book cases, except for the part of the room that had a big desk in the middle of it. A name plate on the desk read Asato Miyabi. There in a leather high backed chair sat a woman who appeared to be in her early forties. She had long silver hair that was kept in a ponytail behind her. Her eyes were a deep blue and she had a clean white dress on. She looks up at Yuki and smiles at him as he closes the door behind him and steps towards her.

"Ahh, Yuki, how was your last day of the academy? I see they gave you your Hitai-ate's today too."

"It was fine kaa-san." It really wasn't, it was rather boring to him. "Say, Mai and I went out today and stopped by the weapons shop….one thing lead to another a…"

Before Yuki could finish his sentence she cut him off. "I'll handle it." She simply said, her smile not easing up. "She's just like her mother, if there's money in her hand, she will spend it."

Yuki fully agreed, Mai was always getting money from him, though like he had said earlier, money isn't an issue if it's for Mai. "Thanks kaa-san" said Yuki as he bowed.

Miyabi looks back down at the paperwork that was sprawled out on her desk. "Now if you'll excuse me Yuki, I need to finish my work. We can talk more during dinner." Yuki knew that she was usually up to her neck in work. She was part of the village's military brass, just recently having retired, though she still volunteers her time to help her village out with overload until the person that replaced her gets settled in. That's on top of her work as the clan head.

Not wanting to disturb her anymore, he bows and leaves the room.

Later that evening, he laid on his bed staring up at the ceiling. The day's events running through his head. For some reason his head was stuck on Mai for a while. Was his conscious telling him that he had a crush on her? Maybe he did, he liked Mai and has been with her almost every day since they were introduced to each other at the age of 3. He knew she liked him too, what sealed that was the fact that she had kissed him earlier that day, but he didn't know her true feelings.

After what seemed like a few hours, he had finally fell off to sleep. Though it wasn't peaceful.

Six hours after he had fallen asleep and with the moon raising high into the sky, he broke into a cold sweat. Immediately he started to thrash around in the bed as his right arm began to clutch some kind of black markings that were starting to show in his left shoulder. After a few more minutes, the window in his room opened and a dark figure entered his room through it. They stood by Yuki's bed for a few minutes until he suddenly shot straight up, breathing heavily and looking around as if he was still in the dream.

"Was it the dream again Yuki-sama?" Yuki recognized the feminine voice and relaxed a little. It was only one of the house maids that was left in charge of overseeing Yuki and his 'Special' condition. Yuki still held the spot on his shoulder, the pain was starting to die down.

Turning on the light next to his bed, he reveals the girl that had been standing by his bed. She was only a few years older than he was, but her chakra reserves were through the roof. She wore a black dress with white outlines, her hair was almost black with two red streaks on both sides going down the side of her face. The girl walks up to Yuki, places and hand on his shoulder, and an orange glow forms around her hand.

After a few minutes, the glow disappears and the girl drops her hand back to her side. "I suppressed the effects of the seal, it seems to be weakening, Yuki-sama."

Yuki slowly nodded. "Ko, did you sense it?"

The girl nodded, "I did," she didn't want to alarm Yuki but knew it was her duty to inform him. "Your dream, it was that nightmare again, wasn't it?"

Yuki just shook his head. "I don't wanna talk about it, Ko." Yuki gets out of the bed and stands up. "I thank you for your concern Ko, you may go now." As he said that the girl nodded, but hesitated. "Your still worried about me aren't you?" asked Yuki, seeing the worried look in her eyes.

She nodded. "Your well-being is my concern, my only order from your mother was to ensure that you remain alive and in good mental and physical condition. With that seal acting out on two occasions a week apart, it has me worried."

Yuki looks at Ko and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Ko, I'm fine. We all know that it takes a lot for the seal to be broken." He stops a minute and thinks. "Ayame, has she had any issues?"

Ko shakes her head "None, it seems _he_ put all he had left in him into her seal."

Yuki turns from her and looks to a picture on the wall. A very young Ayame is up front between two boys, one I Yuki, while the other with black hair that spiked at the ends stood taller than him.

"Hiroto wouldn't want her to suffer any from fathers…experiments…" Yuki clenched his fists together when he mentioned his father's name.

Ko knew that there was bad blood between Yuki and his now deceased father, though she hadn't heard the story, she knew that whatever happened brought the death of his father and older brother Hiroto one winter night. She was only told about the seal on Ayame and Yuki when she was hired by their mother, how to control it, and what to do in the event the seal failed.

Yuki on the other hand, kept to himself about the incident. Many in the village knew something happened, though it was quickly hushed by the Mitsukage. For all he cared, the incident could fade away in darkness and never come to light again, but things like this never do.

Yuki looks at Ko and smiles, "I'll see to it that mother rewards you for suppressing the seal. Don't want you thinking you're doing this for nothing."

Ko bows immediately in gratitude. "Knowing that you and your sister are in good health is my reward, Yuki-sama."

"No need to bow to me Ko, your more of a friend to me." He walks to his dresser and opens it but stops and looks at Ko. "Since I'm already up, I'm just gonna go and practice a little. If you don't mind, I got to get dressed."

Ko only nods, and exits through the door, closing it behind her.

Yuki is quickly dressed and heads out of his room and downstairs. As he nears the front door he grabs his gear that was sitting on a coat hanger and exits the house.


	2. Chapter 2: The Unexpected

**Chapter 2: The Unexpected**

The time, 3 A.M. The location, Practice Field 4. The reason…Yuki was still trying to figure that out for himself. He had thought he would come here and practice some taijutsu or maybe even try those new kunai and shuriken that Mai had bought him. But as he had gotten closer to the field, his mind began to wonder again and the motivation to practice quickly went down the drain.

Now he was sitting on top of a target log looking over the field at the moon which was now midway the sky and heading to the trees. He thought about going back home, but decided that there was no need since he was supposed to be back here to this spot later, so he just sat there thinking. The air was cool and he could hear the village gates being opened for the departure of teams that had early morning missions.

A few more minutes go by before he reaches for the pouch on his side and pulls out one of the silver kunai that Mai had bought for him. He inspects it, twirls it around his hand a few times, and even jabs it into the log beneath him a few times. What really caught him off guard was when he flared his chakra and the kunai extended into a blade. He hadn't known something like this existed.

He jumps from the log, and faces it with the blade now at the ready. He hadn't had much practice with swords, but his mother taught him the basics with her katana. He gives the log 2 quick swipes and rests the blade back at his side. A few seconds later the log splits into 3 pieces and falls to the ground. Amazed at what he just saw, he can only stare at the blade in aww.

After a few more minutes of looking at it he decided to flare his chakra again, this only returns the blade into its previous state. Not wanting to lose his new toy he puts it back in his side pouch and turns from the log. Only when he turns around he is face to face with a girl with jet black hair. Startled he staggers backwards tripping over one of the pieces of the log he just cut up. He lands on his back in a heap as the girl bursts into laughter.

Yuki jumps to his feet and glares at the girl. She had black pants, a blue jacket that was unzipped to reveal a black undershirt. "Hey, that's not funny, you scared the shit out of me!" Suddenly he realizes he has seen the girl before.

"You're looking at me mighty hard gaki. You think I'm cute or something?" spat the girl after a few moments of Yuki staring at her.

"No, I…I just remembered you from yesterday. You cut in front of me and my friend while you were being chased." said Yuki trying not to remember the way he had stopped Mai.

"Oh you saw that?" She grinned. "Anyway, yea that was me. So what about it?"

"Nothing, just why were you being chased?"

The girl smiled wider. "No reason, I just pissed off a few guys to see if they could catch me is all."

Yuki was stunned, she had pissed more than a few guys off in the village just to see if they could catch her? _Who the hell was this girl? _HE thought.

Suddenly the girl sat down next to Yuki then pulls him down to take a seat. "So tell me, what are you doing out here? It's almost 4am and you're just out here slicing up tree trunks?"

"Well at least I have an excuse to be out here at 4am, what's yours?" he said as he looked at her.

"No reason I guess, thought I'd just get a head start on my day by taking a walk. That's when I saw you and figured I'd come say hi." She looked up at the moon, the light revealed her eye's to Yuki who was stunned at what he saw. He hadn't noticed before, but her eyes were pale. He knew right off the bat that she was a Byakugon user, but he didn't know there was anyone one Raitogakure that could use the Byakugon.

Still a bit stunned, he manages to get out what he was thinking. "Your eye's…"

She looks at him still holding a smile. "What about them?"

"You can use the Byakugon can't you?" Yuki was still trying to get through his head that someone who had a link to Konoha was sitting next to him.

The girl just looks back at the moon, not uttering a word.

"I know that there are two clans in Konoha that can use the Byakugon. The Hyuuga clan, and in part by marriage, the Uzimaki clan. I just never thought I'd be sitting next to someone who could use it. Let alone having one here in Raito. So, are you from one of those clans?"

The girl nods. "I am," She looks at Yuki. "I'm new to the village actually. I came to Konoha as part of a program that introduces kekkei genkai that are new to the village in hopes that it will expand to different villages."

Yuki had heard about the program from his mother, though he didn't agree that the person had to give up citizenship and become a citizen of the village they were being sent too, he knew that they were treated very well as not to anger their former village.

The girl looks back at the moon, only this time her hand had found its way to Yuki's. "I'm an Uzumaki by the way."

Yuki was dumbfounded. The Uzumaki clan was considered royalty in Konoha, ever since the Nanadaime Hokage Uzumaki Naruto's time, every Hokage since then had been an Uzumaki. Though he was aware that one of Naruto's children had disappeared shortly after her sixteenth birthday.

"So you're related to the Hokage then?" asked Yuki, not knowing what her answer would be.

She nodded, "I am, he's my father, and before you even ask, I volunteered to come here. I don't want you thinking I was forced into doing it, cause no one forces me to do anything." Yuki could sense the firmness in her voice. What struck him was that she volunteered for it.

"So why, why did you volunteer to come here?"

"Well, for one, I wanted something different. I hated being referred to as royalty. No one wanted to be my friend just to be friends, only because they knew if they were disrespectful to me they would be punished. I wasn't allowed into the academy or given the opportunity to be in a squad. So when I heard about the program, I went to my father and mother and demanded that I be the one sent. I told them that for once I wanted to be happy and live life my way, not theirs."

Yuki sat there a minute and looked at her. He was considered the heir to a very prestigious family in his village, but not considered royalty. Yea everyone knew him, but no one was acting any differently than they would have towards him if he were from just a normal family. The thought of his family ever being close to normal made his smirk just a bit. The girl next to him picked up on it.

"What's so funny?" she asked as if what she had said was funny to him.

"Nothing, just didn't think I was sitting next to _royalty_ is all" picking fun at her. "If I had known that I'd have bowed to you. Asato Yuki by the way, didn't mean for the conversation to go on for so long without my name being known."

"Uzumaki Rika," For some reason she tightens her grip on Yuki's hand. "Nice to meet someone who doesn't treat me like I'm a god."

Yuki smiled, it seems like he had just made a new friend. The sat there talking until the sun started to break over the horizon talking about what ever came to mind.

Finally after what seemed like hours Rika stood up, helping Yuki to his feet. "Well, its 7, I'm supposed to meet my team here in an hour."

Yuki was struck by what she just said, "Wait, I'm supposed to meet my sensei and other team mate here in an hour too…Say, you don't think…"

Suddenly it hit Rika like a ton of bricks. "Wait, don't tell me that you're my team mate!"

As if on cue, a rush of air surrounds them kicking up dust, leaves and twigs that cause them to shield their eyes. As the dust settled, Yuki is pulled from beside Rika as Mai stands in front of him. For whatever reason she was emitting a blood lust he never felt from her.

"Yuki, do you know this girl…?

Still stunned, it takes Yuki a few seconds to respond, "Yea, she's new here an..." Before Yuki could finish, Rika was in a fighting stance.

"Byakugon!" she shouted, Yuki knew that those who could use the Byakugon were able to shut off vital points of the body, rendering it useless in most cases.

Yuki sensing that things are about to get out of hand manages to get in between the two girls.

"Both of you calm down!"

Seeing Rika go into a fighting stance send Mai into defensive mode, she grabs a kunai and readies herself. Not wanting things to get out of hand, Yuki pulsates his chakra enough to temporarily stun the two.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Yuki and both girls lost focus. "I will not have either of you fighting. For one, you two don't know each other yet, two we are team mates." He said that while he looked at Mai who was still sort of shocked.

"Nani?" was all Mai could get out as her and Rika relaxed. "This girl is our team mate…"

"Great way for us to meet, pounding each other's brains out." Spat Rika sarcastically.

"Yea well if you would have left your hand off of Yuki's you wouldn't be in this situation!"

Yuki face planted the ground after hearing that.

"Sooo, someone has a crush on Yuki and now she's jealous cause merry little ole me came in and held his hand while we were talking, geez Yuki, I didn't think you would have a fan girl."

Mai clenched her fists tighter together. "I AM NOT A FANGIRL! I have known Yuki since we were both children thank you very much!"

"You didn't deny being jealous of me holding his hand" said Rika with a sly grin stretched across her face. "Just how long were you hiding out watching us?"

"Long enough to get pissed off by it. Just who do you think you are waltzing up here and talking to him like you've known him all your life and even having the audacity to hold onto his hand while you don't even know if he is in a committed relationship with someone?"

"Committed relationship?" muttered Yuki, trying to figure out what she was poking around at.

'I think I'm just some girl looking to make a friend is all, which I think I have."

"You think you have. Just because we are in a squad together doesn't mean anyone has to be friends with you!"

"All this petty jealousy because I held his hand? Well at least I never had to deal with that back in my village…"

"What the hell are you talking about now?" asked Mai clearly confused.

"Oh, I thought you were stalking us, I'm sure that you heard me when I told him exactly who I was."

"No, and what does that have to do with what you just said?"

Rika was enjoying the arguing with Mai, she usually never argued with anyone back in Konoha, but she had clearly taken the upper hand.

"Well, would you like me to tell you my name then, oh team mate of mine?"

"Please do, I'm sure whatever name you say still will not clear up what you've done" spat Mai, confidently

Yuki knew that Mai was in for a rude awakening. It was law in Raito that families of any kage be treated with the due respect that their kage is treated with. Which means that Mai was in direct violation of said law.

With a wide grin on her face, Rika put her hands on her hips and looked at Mai. "I'm Uzumaki Rika, the daughter of the current Hokage of Konohagakure."

As Yuki thought, Mai was speechless. Not only was the daughter of a kage standing in front of her, but a member of the famed Uzimaki clan was standing in front of her. Yuki could see her hands start to tremble, then it happened. Mai bowed, she actually bowed, something that Yuki never thought he'd ever see.

"F-Forgive me, I didn't know that you were…"

Rika relaxed herself and put a hand on Mai shoulder. "No need to bow, part of the reason I'm here is to get way from all the formalities I faced in my village. Here, I'm just regular old Rika. "

"But, in our village we have raised to always respect people of higher standing then us."

"No need, just view me as a regular kunoichi." Rika paused for a second, knowing she was forgetting something. "What's your name?"

Mai raises herself from the bow and looks at Rika. "Fujii Mai. I'm uh…uh sorry that I snapped at you. I just get a bit overprotective of Yuki sometimes, since we've been close friends since we were kids I just can't imagine life without him."

"Or my money" muttered Yuki, which earned him a slap on the back of the head "OW!"

Rika laughed a bit, "Don't worry about it, and just so you know, I was holding his hand to calm his nerves a little, you see I scared him almost half to death when I appeared." She looks at Yuki and smiles. "Your girlfriend really cares about you if she gets this mad just by someone holding your hand"

Both Mai and Yuki blush a color red Rika had never seen before. "We uhhhh….we aren't dating." Said Mai after a few seconds.

"Well…" Rika latches onto Yuki, "Looks like I have work to do" she said as she stuck her tongue out at Mai.

Yuki could see Mai's anger bubbling up to the top. Royal family or not, Mai wasn't gonna put up with anyone messing with Yuki.

With her fists clenched harder, she throws a punch at Rika. "YOU STUPID SLUT!"

Rika dodges out of the way but Mai's punch finds a target, which happens to be Yuki's face. The force is so strong it launches him into a tree truck. He hits hard and falls to the ground.

Mai, shocked that she just hit her friend, turns to Rika. "UGGGH! COME HERE!"

Mai chases Rika around the practice field, while Yuki staggers to his feet. Wondering how Mai's punch hadn't killed him, he sighs and just watches, hoping the two will either tire themselves out just get the hell over it.

"Lovely squad this is turning out to be…"


	3. Chapter 3: New Sensei and a Mission!

**Chapter 3: New Sensei and a Mission!**

_Just what am I getting myself into?_ Wondered Yuki. He was now holding Rika and Mai apart from each other so they wouldn't tear each other limb from limb. Though he was more worried about Mai seeing that Rika could do considerable damage to her, Rika had never been on the receiving end of one of Mai's punches. That was something Yuki was trying to stop.

"LET ME GO YUKI! I'M GONNA TEACH THIS BITCH A LESSON, UZUMAKI OR NOT!" screamed Mai, struggling to break Yuki's grasp.

"You're so lucky that Yuki's holding us apart or you'd have a grave stone made out in your name!"

"IS that a threat?"

"No, that's a promise."

Yuki was getting fed up with the two girls arguing. He knew there was one way to get them to calm down, but neither would like it and he was sure to catch some flak for it later.

"BOTH OF YOU KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!"

Both girls, stunned, back off just a bit for Yuki to let his anger out, careful of it not getting out of control.

"For the past half hour I've sat here and listened to you two, I'm tired of it! All I want is for you two to just get over whatever it is your mad about, shake hands, and let's do what squads do and work together!"

"I'll work with my squad when she's lying in a hospital bed unconscious!" spat Mai, the air between her and Rika became charged again.

Yuki glared at Mai, which made her rethink her previous statement. She knew what Yuki could be like mad, she knew about his seal and had seen it broken, so angering him to that point was not something she wanted to do.

"…I'll stop. But only for you Yuki" she said softly.

"For you Yuki, I'll let it drop…..for now."

Yuki relaxed himself and then turned around. There had been another chakra presence hiding in the same tree for the past ten minutes, he didn't know who it was, but he had a feeling.

Yuki reaches into his weapons pouch and produces two shuriken which he quickly launches into the tree. Metal against metal can be heard, a second later Yuki watches his shuriken falls to the ground. "Get ready you two, we aren't alone."

The two girls listen to him. Mai pulls out a kunai as Rika activates her Byakugon. She looks into the tree and see's the person standing there.

"I see him, mid-level of the tree, appears to be a Jonin. No visible Hitai-ate o…."

Rika wasn't able to finish, in a split second the man was gone. When she refocused he was standing toe to toe with Yuki and had a katana to his throat.

"You two girls stand down or I take his head off…" the brown haired man said, all three of them could feel the blood lust emitting off of him. He was serious.

The two girls did exactly as the man said, they backed off and Mai lowered the kunai. Yuki on the other had was as calm as could be.

"Why so calm, there's a sword to your neck and your life is in grave danger. I've seen battle hardened men where you stand beg for their life, yet a 13 year old boy stands here like stone."

Yuki simply nodded. "A ninja is full of surprises."

That's when the man felt pressure against his Flak Jacket and looked down. The kunai that Yuki had earlier was extended into a longer blade and pressed against his stomach, chakra flowing from its edge.

The man was surprised at this, he hadn't expected to be outsmarted by a kid. Knowing that Yuki was serious himself, the man lowered the sword and stepped back.

"Geez gaki, I wouldn't have thought someone fresh from the academy could trick a Special Joni..." before he could finish, the girls had acted.

Rika had speedily gotten behind him and used her Gentle Fist to knock some tenketsu points out in his legs causing them to buckle. Before the man could fall to the ground Mai was behind him holding him up but not before putting her own kunai to his throat. While Mai had him in a death grip, Rika had swung to his front and held a finger to the tenketsu point over his heart. Yuki simply moved closer and held the blade just under his chin.

"If you're a Special Jonin, how did 3 genin manage to bring you to your knees like this?" asked Yuki with a grin on his face.

The man was looking down at the blade with both his hands up. "Luck I guess…" said the man nervously.

Mai tightens her grip around the man and hold the kunai closer to his neck. "Don't play with us. Just because we are genin doesn't mean we aren't trained."

"That may be true, but you had the help of a Byakugon user to subdue me."

"You got what was coming to you" spat Rika, now furious at the man

"Either way, you guys wouldn't want to hurt your new sensei would you?" now the man was grinning.

That struck the three like lightning. They froze for a second, then instantly backed off. All three bowed to the man who was still knelling on one knee due to his legs.

"Please forgive us sensei, we didn't know at it was you." Said Yuki hurriedly.

Mai and Rika both nodded agreeing with what Yuki said.

The man laughed. "Oh that's quite alright, I must say though, I'm very impressed by what I saw. You acted as a unit to disable a threat and you did so effectively. I was gonna give you a test to see if you had what it took to work as a team, but the hell with that, you passed before I could administer it."

The three stood there and stared at the man in disbelief. Mai and Rika knew what they had done, but didn't thing they acted as a team. Yuki was stunned to know that there was actually a test to even be in a squad.

"By the way, my names Yoshida Kai, Special Jonin. I will be your sensei from this day on." He said with a bow, the Yuki, Rika, and Mai all bowed back.

"I am Asato Yuki."

"Fujii Mai"

"Uzumaki Rika"

"Very nice too meet all of you. Now, I want to do a little exercise. I want you to tell us something that we all should know about you." Kai looks at Rika first, "Since you like running your mouth the most, you begin"

Rika was pissed by what he said but kept her anger down, she thought Mai had been listening in for a while, just how long had he?

"I hate it when someone weak is preyed upon by someone who _thinks _they have power over everyone."

Kai nods, someone agreeing with her. "Alright," he looks at Mai next "Your turn."

"I am very protective of my friends and will kill anyone who means them harm" she said while glaring at Rika, who stuck her tongue out in response to the glare.

Kai just sat there and shook his head. "Okaaaay, well," He looks over to Yuki now. "Your turn"

Yuki knew what he was gonna tell them, Mai already knew about it, but since he was gonna be in a squad with these people in life or death situations he knew that they needed to know about it too.

Yuki simply reaches up to his shirt and pulls it from over the marking on his shoulder. "This, this seal, you all need to know about this seal…"

Mai couldn't believe her ears. Yuki usually kept quiet about it, whenever it was brought up, he skipped around the questions like they were nothing. Even when his own mother had brought it up in front of her Yuki ignored her.

Rika see's the mark and gasps. She knew what it was, it was an entrapment seal. Something had been sealed inside of Yuki the same way a tailed beast was sealed inside a human, but what was sealed in him was anyone's guess.

"Mai knows about what happens if I lose control over the seal, she can tell you that I'm…..well I'm not very nice when the seals open. If I get angry enough or let my emotions take control, the seal breaks and what's inside transforms me into something else, something….I can't describe it…."

"So how did you get this seal, if you don't mind me asking" Kai was all ears now. He knew a bit about Yuki and his families past, but never anything about the seal came to his ears.

Yuki pauses for moment but then sighs. He knew that he would have to tell the story sooner or later, he just hoped he could keep his anger down enough to keep the seal suppressed.

"Alright, it all started three years ago. My father as everyone in the village knows was the leading member of the village's research and development squad. Always working on ways to create new weapons and gear for ninja. However, towards the end of his life…" Yuki said that with no remorse. "He began experimenting with sealing creatures into other creatures, and reworking the seals so that the creature who had the seal markings on them could draw power from the one sealed inside of them. It got to the point where experimenting on animals just wasn't producing enough data for him…so." Yuki hung his head before continuing. "He used me and my sister for his last experiment…"

The look on the others faces was what he had expected.

Mai felt her heart break for Yuki, he was very close to his little sister Ayame.

Rika felt tears building up in her eyes, how could anyone experiment on their own children?

"On that night," Yuki clenched his fists together. "He sealed the half of the life force of a demons soul into me…and half into my sister…" He could feel his anger affecting the seal. "The only downfall was that the seal wasn't meant for humans, so the demon was basically merged with our own life force. It tried taking over our bodies and minds. Though we screamed for our father to help us, he merely jotted down notes saying he couldn't interfere…My older brother Shin was the one to help me and my sister. He sealed me first then confronted my father…"

Now Mai was beginning to piece the puzzle together. He mouth dropped open as she just knew what Yuki was going to say next.

"My father and brother fought…literally to the death. My brother managed to win but was severely wounded, he wouldn't have made it to morning. He in a last ditch effort to save my sister, he poured all of his chakra that he had left into reworking the seal. He completely sealed the demon inside her away…"

Now the mark was starting to glow. Yuki could feel the pain but poured all the chakra he could to it to keep it from releasing.

"My seal still has flaws though, if I get angry, the demons power flows into me until I can either get a grip on myself, or someone reactivates the seal. Ayame on the other hand has no issues at all." He looks up at the three and see's the look of horror on their faces. "So that's what I have to deal with, and seeing that we are in a squad, I guess you have to deal with it too."

Silence was all that could be heard for the next few moments. Finally, with tears in her eyes Mai stood up and threw her arms around Yuki. He could feel her tears hitting his neck.

"I'm so sorry Yuki…"

He had his arms wrapped around Mai now, he didn't mean for her to react like this, but he had to let them know. "Mai…"

She had her face buried into his neck now. "Why didn't you tell me? I don't like it when you keep stuff from me Yuki, I could have helped you,"

He pushed her away to look into her eyes, they were filled with tears and he could see that she was hurting for him. "Mai, thank you, but this is for me to bear alone. I didn't want to drag you into this, the less people that are involved or know about the seal the better…"

"BAKA!" spat Rika. "You NEVER go through life holding in secrets, especially something as big as this. How do you expect us to help you if you lose control?"

Kai nods along with Rika, "I for one would like to know how to reactivate the said seal."

"Me too!" said both Rika and Mai in unison.

Yuki hesitated, only three people knew how to reactivate the seal, him, his mother, and Ko. He wasn't as good as either Ko or his mother, but Ko was better at it then his mother. Teaching the others would have some advantages, but then again when the demon was flowing through his veins, would he be able to see them as friends?

"If it helps, Yuki, my grandmother is a seal master back in Konoha." said Rika finally. "We could arrange a trip there to see if there is anything she can do to help you better control the seal."

Yuki liked that idea, but he knew that his mother wouldn't allow for him to go to Konoha to have the seal basically tampered with. None the less, if he could get that _thing_ under control, it would save him a lot of hurt he felt.

"I could look into the missions log once I report in to the Mitsukage, if any lower ranking one pops up in or around Konoha I can opt us in…"

"Kai, you're a genius!" shouted Yuki.

Stunned, kai looked at him, "I am?"

Yuki nods, "Yes! If my mother knew we were just going for no reason, she might suspect something's up and forbid me to go, but if I am going for a mission, then she has no choice then to let me go."

Mai nods along with Yuki "He's right, she is kind of over protective of him…"

"Kinda like you?" said Rika in a low voice, which earned her a death glare from Mai.

"Enough you too, I want whatever anger between you two to disappear, got it?" Kai said firmly.

The two girls looked at one another, then nodded.

Kai manages to finally stand back up and turns around. "Alright, I'll meet with each of you personally later on. Then you'll know the mission details." In a cloud of dust, he was gone leaving Yuki, Mai and Rika there.

Yuki knew that before they went on this mission, if there was one, that it would be a good idea for Rika and Mai to know how to reactivate the seal. "Do you two want to know how to reactivate my seal, just in case?

"Yea…" said Rika before being cut off by Mai.

"Of course I do, I should have been taught how to from the beginning since I'm so close to yo…"

"You don't understand Mai."

"What Yuki? What don't I understand? I understand that there is a demon inside of you that comes out when you're angry, and I k…"

"WHEN THE DEMON COMES OUT I BECOME A HEARTLESS KILLER MAI!" he stops himself. He didn't want to hurt Mai any more then telling them the secret had. "Mai, I know you want to help me since we are so close, but you have to understand I don't want any of you around me if I turn. I hate the fact that I'm showing you how to reseal me if and when it releases, but I feel there's no choice."

Mai stood there for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"Alright, come on guys, I'll have Ko teach you everything you need to know."

Rika didn't know Ko, but anything that would help Yuki she was willing to learn.

Yuki turns around and heads from the field with Mai and Rika close behind him.


End file.
